World Aquatics has announced SPORTFIVE as the sports marketing agency that will handle media rights sales for its events ©World Aquatics

World Aquatics has announced SPORTFIVE as the sports marketing agency that will handle media rights sales for its events.

The multi-year collaboration is set to "enhance broadcast coverage" for World Aquatics events outside Japan and selected APAC countries from 2023.

The International Federation has decided to stick with long-standing partner Dentsu to retain rights in those countries, including Australia, South Korea, Malaysia, New Zealand, Singapore and Thailand.

The deal with SPORTFIVE will however cover the World Aquatics Championships in Fukuoka this year and future editions like Doha 2024 and Singapore 2025.

"Through this partnership with SPORTFIVE, we are excited to bring the high-intensity action and sporting drama of aquatic sports into millions of new homes," said World Aquatics President Husain Al-Musallam.

"It presents an opportunity to further engage the next generation of aquatics fans around the world, as well as showcase the cutting-edge developments in underwater camera technology and our 4K coverage of the World Aquatics Championships in Fukuoka.

"These advancements will redefine the way fans enjoy our premier aquatics events worldwide."

The International Federation has decided to stick with long-standing partner Dentsu to retain rights in Japan, Australia, South Korea, Malaysia, New Zealand, Singapore and Thailand ©World Aquatics
The International Federation has decided to stick with long-standing partner Dentsu to retain rights in Japan, Australia, South Korea, Malaysia, New Zealand, Singapore and Thailand ©World Aquatics

It was claimed that the World Aquatics and SPORTFIVE partnership will work towards expanding the commercial potential of events.

"We are proud to be working with World Aquatics - an organisation at the forefront of the Olympic Movement with sports that resonate universally," said SPORTFIVE chief growth officer Robert Müller von Vultejus.

"This collaboration represents an exciting opportunity to highlight the world-class athletes, iconic locations and thrilling competitions that define aquatic sports. We look forward to bringing aquatics fans closer to the action than ever before."

The new deal indicates more uncertainty for Dentsu, who are at the forefront of the Tokyo 2020 Olympic bribery scandal.

The Japanese marketing firm are among several other companies implicated in the rigging of contracts worth $320 million (£252 million/€292 million) at Tokyo 2020.

Recently, Dentsu lost exclusive broadcast rights to four editions of the Olympic Games in 22 countries in Asia to Infront Sports & Media AG.

They held the rights in Central and South-East Asia since Sochi 2014 Winter Games and is due to expire after Paris 2024.

The company has also been suspended from bidding for Government contracts by the Tokyo Metropolitan Government and Osaka Prefecture since the scandal broke out.